The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-07

THE CHARLESTON FESTIVAL.
1t Was a Great Success in Every Re
spect.

spect.
CHARLESTON, Nov. 5-The old city has
just finished her festival, and has hardly
yet realized its success or its Importance.
If the ghosts of some Of the great men of
the secession period could have visited the
city this week how they would have been
Mortified The writer recalls the celebta-
tions here twenty-seven years ago, when
the momentous events which led to the
great struggle were occurring The stars
and stripes were not particularly popular at
that time; the Confederacy had not yet
been born, and the Confederate flag had not
sprung into existence; but men and women
taxed their brains and their ingenuity to
invent new flags and banners, and various
devices in which the palmetto and the
crescent and the cannon and cotton bale en-
tered largely, wero worked into flags and
banners
The stars and stripes were, however, not
to be crushed out. They are here to-day an
hundred thousand strong, and they are here
to stay Charleston has fully proven to the
world that she is in for the old flag, and an
appropriation for the jetties. No such dem
onstration has ever been witnessed here
before At the intersection of Hayne and
Meeting streets, where twenty-seven years
ago, the first secession flag was raised on
liberty pole, there is a triumphal arch be
spangled with the OLE flag and the national
colors. There is not street in the entire
city in which the old flag does not dutter in
the breeze. The dealers are unable to give
an idea of the number of flags they sold.
They sold out their stock three days before
the festival opened and then telegraphed for
more; sold out the additional stock and tele-
graphed for more. As for lanterns it would
seem that there could be very few Of them
left at tle manufactures
A SIGNIFICANT FEATURE
of the festival was the interest taken in it
by everybody in the city. The only thing
to compare with the decorations YVES the
Chatham Artillery centennial at Savannah
year ago last May. There we're not 100
out of the 10000 houses in the city that were
not decorated in some way.
As to the visitors to the city il is difficult
to give a correct estimate. Tho various
railroads entering here reported the num-
Der of passengers brought in on the regular
trains every day, but the figures do not by
any means represent the number Of
strangers who were IN the city.
THE POPULATION SURROUNDING CHARLES
ON the land side at least, is very
dense, and it was all here. The rail.
roads transported an average of about 8, 500
persons daily. This would give a total Of
about 20 900 people who came to the city
uuTlllR bte week. Atlu 10 pI1iS Ol6 6ITlVdte
by steamer, ferry and country roads, and
those who came in advance TO spend the
week with their friends here and the figures
will easily reach $1,000. To those who are
accustomed to read of big crowds these fig
dres seem comparatively Insignificant, but
they mean a great deal to Charleston. IL is
admitted by all who were here that the car
nival was a grand success. 1t will be re-
membered that there was no exposition, no
central point of attraction. 1t was simply
a carnival gotten up at short notice and in
tended to arouse interest in the city.
So great has been the success, indeed, that
with view of giving annual festivals. The
Charleston Association will invite co-opera-
tion from Savannah, Columbia, Augusta
Jacksonville, Wilmington, and other South
Atlantic cities. The idea is to have perma-
nent associations in each of the cities named
with annual carnivals to be arranged at
such dates as will not conflict. In this way
vast quantity of floats and other para
phernalia can be accumulated and could be
used in each city in turn Such a combina-
ton would also attract a splendid lot of
horses from all over the country and
establish a permanent racing circuit. 1t
would induce the owners of race horses to
spend tine winter in the South, and would,
besides, attract thousands and thousands of
Northern visitors, who now only think of
coming South in the early spring. Steps
have been taken to submit this proposition
to the cities named, in the hope Of forming
n South Atlantic circuit.